Insider knowledge and outsider objectivity – the benefits and risks of combined evaluator roles in a study of health care reform
| Author | Helen Van Eyk,Catherine Hurley,Fran Baum |
| Published date | 01 December 2002 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1035719X0200200215 |
| Date | 01 December 2002 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
60 Evaluation Journal of Australasia, Vol. 2 (new series), No. 2, December 2002
Evaluation Journal of Australasia, Vol. 2 (new series), No. 2, December 2002, pp. 60–68
Catherine Hurley
Helen van Eyk
Fran Baum
REFEREED ARTICLE
This paper describes the experiences of the authors in
conducting a three year evaluation of health system
reform processes in the southern region of Adelaide and
explores how the evaluation team utilised ‘insider’ and
‘outsider’ roles to establish and maintain trust and
cooperation with stakeholders and informants in a
turbulent policy environment. It uses the results of focus
groups and interviews to analyse how the team was able
to encourage the sharing of sensitive information and to
examine the roles, responsibilities and risks to evaluators
in carrying out a controversial evaluation. The importance
and some means of finding a balance between insider
knowledge and outsider objectivity in evaluation are
discussed.
Introduction
This paper draws on the experiences of the authors in conducting a three-year
evaluation of health system reform processes in the southern metropolitan region
of Adelaide and explores how the evaluation team combined outside and inside
evaluators and managed to establish and maintain trusting relationships with
stakeholders and informants in a turbulent and highly charged environment. The
literature on evaluation gives only brief attention to the advantages and
disadvantages of being an internal or external evaluator. This paper will draw on
the experiences of conducting an evaluation of health system reform in order to
analyse more fully how the composition of the team encouraged the sharing of
sensitive information in a situation dominated by tension between health care
providers and bureaucrats. It will also examine the role, responsibilities and risks
to evaluators in such a situation, and the importance of finding a balance between
insider knowledge and outsider objectivity.
Literature on insider and outsider
evaluators
Insider evaluators, defined as people who are involved with the implementation or
outcomes of the program (Owen 1993), are seen to have strengths in the area of
Insider knowledge and
outsider objectivity
– the benefits and risks of combined
evaluator roles in a study of health
care reform
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